TV Critics Have Named 'Agents of SHIELD' the Best Show of the Fall Season, Because Duh

For fans of Marvel and The Avengers, the upcoming ABC drama Agents of SHIELD means a lot of things: The return of the beloved Agent Coulson, a peek into the behind-the-scenes of the superhero world, the long-awaited return of Joss Whedon to television, etc. Apparently all these things add up to one quality television show, too, because the Television Critics Association are pretty much all coming together to say one thing: Agents of SHIELD is the most promising show of the upcoming TV season. And we couldn't be less surprised.

SHIELD — which is being executive produced not only by Whedon but by his little brother Jed Whedon and Jed's wife Maurissa Tancharoen — follows the Marvel comics organization SHIELD, which is an FBI-like organization responsible for dealing with the superheroes (and villains) of the Marvel universe. The show also marks the reunion of three out of the four spots in the Dr. Horrible creative team, which Tancharoen and the Whedon brothers wrote together.

The critics of the TCA came together for the first time ever this year to decide as a group which fall shows showed the most promise; 220 were polled, and Agents of SHIELD was the winner. It was followed by Masters of Sex (Lizzie Caplan and Michael Sheen, Showtime), NBC's The Blacklist, and CBS' Hostages, along with comedies Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox), Mom (CBS), and Trophy Wife (ABC).

It's no surprise to us that SHIELD took the lead; The Whedon/Tancharoen family has quite the storied, cult-respected television history — elder Whedon brother Joss had Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse, with younger brother Jed and Tancharoen both serving as writers on the latter. They're also working with an even more storied world tied to one of the biggest box office hits of all time.

We'll have to wait until the Sept. 24 premiere to judge the pilot for ourselves. In the meantime, 220 television critics have us pretty psyched to wait and see.